Michael_Elliott Let Me Dream Again (1900) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Clocking in at less than two minutes, this is a pretty funny movie that shows a middle aged man drinking, smoking and flirting with a beautiful young woman. The man is having a terrific time until he wakes up and realizes that in bed with him is his rather unattractive wife. LET ME DREAM AGAIN is a pretty simple film but for 1900 it was rather clever and used the dream sequence for a great cause. George Melies was using dream sequences to show off horrors and magic tricks but this here was clever use of it because we get a very big laugh. I thought it was rather hilarious when the man woke up and the facial expression when he sees his wife was extremely good.

bob the moo An old man flirts with a pretty young woman and gets very amorous, only for the reality of his situation to become horribly apparent to him! This is a very simple film with one gag to deliver and a short time to do it in. The joke is funnier than it sounds mainly because the manner of delivery of the punch line is good. It has enough time at the end to milk the gag so it does tend to work. Contrast this with the French short that repeated it less successfully the following year where the delivery was the problem and the punch line felt like it was delivered in a rush without allowing the actors to react.Of more note is the way that the film moves from dream sequence to reality. The film goes out of focus and when it returns we are in the second scene. It is now a common effect and we all clearly know what it means but this film was the first known example of it being used.

MartinHafer The same night I watched this silent short, I also saw a French film called "Rêve et réalité" (1901). It turns out the French movie was a knockoff of this film--with the exact same plot and scenes! While it was common for many of the very early studios to plagiarize each other's work, this one is one of the more flagrant examples. I just hope that LET ME DREAM AGAIN is the actual first film of its kind and not a rip-off of another, earlier film! The story is immensely simple (as was true of nearly all films from this era). An old guy is making out with a pretty young lady and life seems grand--until he wakes up and realizes it's all a dream! The idea is cute, though the execution is a tad primitive and rough. Still, given its tremendous age, it's still pretty watchable today.

Snow Leopard With an idea that was creative for its time, and a theme that still retains some interest, "Let Me Dream Again" is still worth seeing despite its unpolished look. It was one of the very earliest attempts to film a story that compared dream and reality, and while there are later imitations of the story with a more refined technique, this is the one that should probably get the credit for the basic idea.The comparison between the man's dream and the reality of his life certainly makes a comic point, but at the same time, it suggests some more general ideas about what people want their lives to be. The man in the story does not come across as an interesting person in himself, and the story itself is quite rudimentary - yet in watching the main character, you're not quite sure whether to respond with pity, scorn, laughter, or some of all three.While very simple, these very old, very short features often handle these kinds of themes in an economical fashion that contrasts well with the excessive approach that has become all too common in the 21st century.